The invention relates to a conveying system according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention also relates to a method of conveying a conveyable article according to the preamble of claim 16.
CH 569 197 A5 discloses an apparatus which uses clamping tongs guided on a rail for the purpose of gripping and retaining printed products arriving, in particular, in imbricated form. Said clamping tongs include the design feature that they protrude virtually to no extent at all in relation to the thickness of the (non-clamped) newspaper and thus find space both in the imbricated formation and (with constant space requirements) in a stack and, furthermore, are of such a low weight thatxe2x80x94if necessaryxe2x80x94they may be borne and retained by the newspaper itself.
The disadvantage with these known clamping tongs is the fact that they can only be conveyed to very poor effect along a rail, in particular if the clamping tongs rest on the rail. In addition, these clamping tongs do not allow high conveying speeds, as are necessary in the case of modern installations which process, for example, printed products and are capable of conveying, for example, 40,000 printed products per hour.
A further disadvantage of the known clamping tongs is the fact that a rotary movement is necessary for the purpose of gripping a printed product, which, on the one hand, requires a correspondingly high-outlay apparatus for the purpose of producing a rotary movement and, on the other hand, needs a relatively long period of time for reliable gripping.
An object of the invention is to develop a conveying system for a conveyable article, in particular for printed products, such that the conveyable article can be conveyed quickly, flexibly and, in particular, at a high density.
This object is achieved by a conveying system having the features of claim 1. Subclaims 2 to 16 relate to further, advantageous configurations of the conveying system. The object is also achieved by a method of conveying a conveyable article having the features of claim 16.
The object is achieved, in particular, by a conveying system comprising a guide rail and a multiplicity of retaining means with in each case one guide part which can be moved individually in the guide rail, it being the case that a second guide rail with a drive means guided thereon is provided, and it being the case that the drive means allows releasable coupling to a coupling part of the guide part such that, in the coupled state, there is a load-bearing connection between the drive means and the coupling part.
In the following description of the conveying system according to the invention, the example consistently used for a conveyable article conveyed by the retaining means is a printed product, for example a newspaper or a periodical. However, this is to be understood merely as an example of a conveyable article. Of course, the same conveying system is also suitable for manipulating and conveying articles other than printed products, for example empty or filled packs, parts of files, books, pieces of luggage, etc. Rather than being able to convey just sheet-like articles, it is possible for articles of all types and shapes to be conveyed. For this purpose, the conveying system has to be designed in adaptation to the forces acting on it and the retaining means has to be configured in adaptation to the shape of the article which is to be conveyed.
The conveying system according to the invention has a large number of advantages.
The guide part with coupling part is fixed to a retaining means. These parts may be configured so as to be very small, very short in the conveying direction, and, in addition, lightweight and cost-effective. In particular for the purpose of conveying printed products, it is necessary to have a multiplicity of such guide parts with retaining means, which can be cost-effectively mass-produced. The separation of the guide part and drive means makes it possible for the drive means, which is guided on the second guide rail, to be configured so as to be sturdy, powerful and possibly also heavy, whereas the guide part may be configured so as to be very small and lightweight.
The very short configuration of the guide part, as seen in the conveying direction, permits a high-density conveying stream of printed products, which, in addition, makes it possible to reduce, if appropriate, the conveying speed of the printed products. In one embodiment, the guide part with retaining means may be configured such that it takes up approximately the same width as a printed product. By virtue of guide parts arranged one after the other on a guide rail and each having a printed product retained in the retaining means, it is possible for these to be xe2x80x9cstackedxe2x80x9d in a vertical position. This arrangement is suitable, in particular, as an intermediate store of printed products in the [sic] the guide rail is arranged so as to run, for example, on the ceiling of a building, and said ceiling area may thus be used as an intermediate store for printed products. This guide rail may have a slight downward slope, with the result that the guide parts can be moved by the gravitational force acting on them and there is thus no need for any drive means. This means that just one guide rail is required for an intermediate store, with the result that an intermediate store can be produced very cost-effectively.
The two guide rails are arranged one above the other along a conveying path and form two separate conveying streams. While the drive means is preferably constantly circulating, the guide part with retaining means can be coupled to the drive means preferably at any desired point in time and at any desired location. The conveying stream can convey any desired number of printed products up to a maximum possible conveying density.
In the coupled state, there is a load-bearing connection between the drive means and the guide part, with the result that the guide part is guided solely by the drive means. This allows quick, reliable and low-wear conveying a [sic] guide means with retaining means and printed product.
The guide rails may run as desired, even three-dimensionally, in space. In addition, it is possible to provide diverters and transfer locations in order to transfer a guide means from one guide rails [sic] to another. In one embodiment, the conveying system according to the invention allows xe2x80x9cindividual transportation of printed productsxe2x80x9d in the [sic], for example, each printed product can be conveyed along a different, predeterminable conveying path. For this purpose, each retaining means and/or each guide means may have an individual code for the purpose of identifying the retaining means individually or in order to predetermine an individual conveying path. During the conveying process, the retaining means can grip printed products or let them go, with the result that it is possible to put together any desired stack of different printed products, for example to put together a stack of printed products, each retained by a single retaining means, which is coordinated individually with the requirements of a recipient.
The guide part is advantageously configured as a slider which, in particular, with large-surface-area configuration, slides on a guide rail having flat-surface rail parts. A slider of V-shaped and wide-legged configuration is stable in relation to tilting, very lightweight and, in addition, can be moved on the guide rail without canting, even with relatively large moments acting thereon. In addition, the slider may be configured so as to be very short as seen in the conveying direction. The V-shaped sliders may form, in a state in which they butt against one another, a type of bar comprising individual sliders, which imparts a high level of positional stability to the sliders, which are in contact with one another. The sliders may be conveyed by being pushed along from the rear. With a downward slope, the sliders may slide of their own accord on the guide rail as a result of the gravitational force acting on them.
In a preferred embodiment, the guide part is coupled to the drive means by a magnetic circuit which causes a force of attraction between the drive means and the guide part. This load-bearing connection may also be achieved using a large number of other means, for example using pneumatically acting means, or using a releasable adhesively bonding means or mechanically, e.g. using a touch-and-close fastener.
The conveying system according to the invention is ideal for conveying bulk goods since is makes it possible to convey a large number of goods such as printed products, in addition at a high density and at high speed, it being possible to achieve, on account of the high possible density of the printed products conveyed, a high conveying capacity even at a low conveying speed. A high packing density of printed products arranged one behind the other on a rail is possible in a stack or intermediate store.